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October 14-22, 1978 Radio City Music Hall, New York City, NY
SINATRA EXCELLENT IN RADIO CITY DEBUT by Jaques leSourd NJ Journal News Monday, October 16, 1978 Frank Sinatra was back in town to give the Big Apple a special Autumn luster on Saturday night. Outside Radio City Music Hall, the season's first chilly breezes blew; inside, it was all romantic warmth. How appropriate that Sinatra should appear at the Music Hall! Both he and it are national monuments of a sort-with special meaning for New Yorkers. And both appear to have a new lease on life after a period of endangerment. Sinatra, his voice strong and rich and pure, sounded better than he had in years. Gone were the cracklings and hesitancies of recent vintage (especially noticeable in his Madison Square Garden concert of 1974), and the singer was plainly basking in his renewed self-confidence. This was the opening night of a 10-performance engagement for Sinatra at the Music Hall, produced by Lee Gruber and Shelly Gross. If you haven't got tickets-or perhaps a well-connected relative -you're out of luck. The engagement is completely sold-out. The capacity first night crowd of 6,000 was, politely enthusiastic (with the exception of a few vocal souls in the balcony, whom Sinatra swiftly subdued), but the general atmosphere was one of reverent appreciation. If there were any erstwhile bobbysoxers in this audience- and there surely must have been- their adolescent hysteria had long since yielded to grownup reserve. ( In this audience were Gov. Hugh Carey and actor Gregory Peck, along with a number of New York firemen to whom Sinatra had given free tickets). For his part, the 60 year old Sinatra, his gray hair fashionably close-cropped, approached his task with good humor but also with consummate professional seriousness- making sure, for instance, to note the name of every composer, lyricist and arranger for all numbers. He sang 20 songs in all, ranging from such standards in his repertoire as "The Lady Is A Tramp" to a new tune by Elton John, simply entitled "Remember." Sinatra started the program, quite appropriately with the John Kander-Fred Ebb song "Theme from New York, New York," which Liza Minnelli sang in the movie of the same name. Indeed Sinatra seemed at his best with the relatively new Kander-Ebb material, which always lends itself to bravura performance by charismatic performers. The other Kander-Ebb song that Sinatra sang magnificently was "Maybe This Time," from "Cabaret" (also originated by Liza). A nod to Cole Porter came early in the program with "Night and Day" and "At Long Last Love", both Sinatra specialities of course, and later he performed a medley of songs from three films which had played in Radio City, and in which he had starred-"The Tender Trap," "On the Town" and "Guys and Dolls." Song programme of the Oct 14 opening: Theme from New York, New York Night And Day At Long Last Love The Lady Is A Tramp Someone To Watch Over Me Here’s That Rainy Day My Funny Valentine Baubles, Bangles And Beads Medley: The Gal That Got Away / It Never Entered My Mind That’s What God Looks Like To Me Maybe This Time Autumn In New York You And Me The Tender Trap Lonely Town The Oldest Established Remember (Elton John song) My Way America, The Beautiful